The Mechanik

Dolph's first directing effort, The Defender, was a nice little action piece. Granted, the movie was low budget, but there was enough enthusiasm and excitement to make it worthwhile.

The Russian Specialist,aka The Mechanik, as it should be called; is a distinct step UP for Dolph. His direction is incredibly assured for someone who's only directed one other movie.

I won't go into story specifics here because everybody already knows what this about. However, I will go into the production and performances.

Dolph has changed as an actor. He's matured, he's confident in his skin. That is half the battle, and he wins bigtime.

Ben Cross is the comedy relief/dramatic Brit. He's one of the film's better assets.

The rest of the performers are more than adequate. The villains in particular, are slimy and nasty. It's a good thing they're slaughtered in such a brutal fashion!!! The script for this film, while hardly original, is pretty good for low budget fare like this. It pushes all the right buttons at the right time. The dialog is also quite good.

Dolph, the director, is in very good form. His style is loose and fluid. Think Tony Scott meets John Woo and you're on the right track.

The score by Elia Cmiral is haunting when it needs to be and tense when the crap hits the fan. Which brings us to the action set pieces.

Although they're not numerous, the action scenes are well done and VIOLENT! Dolph pulls no punches with this flick. The deaths come fast, hard and furious! Overall, this little film is quite good. I eagerly await the next Dolph film. To those who have not checked out this film and The Defender, I recommend you do so.

Dolph Lundgren made his directorial debut with the Defender. A great little action movie that was really what his fans could have hoped for, a triumphant return to his best. Now his second film shows that it wasn't merely a flash in the pan, or a fluke. Yes people Dolph Lundgren, never considered much kop in the acting department has now proved he is a more than capable director, even suggesting that his new role deserves him a shot at the big time.

The Mechanik's plot is thus: Nick Cherenko (Lundgren) is an ex-spetznaz, parachutist, who served in Afghanistan. He now lives in his homeland of Russia, with his wife and son working as a mechanic (hence the title.). During a drug deal involving Russian mobster Sasha, his wife and child are killed in the crossfire, Sasha gunning down Nick's wife. Nick later hunts down Sasha and his men, wiping them out and leaving Sasha assumed dead, with a nasty bullet hole in the face. Seven years later Nick is working in LA, illegally, as a mechanic when he is approached to do a job. He is to retrieve the kidnapped Julia, daughter of a wealthy businesswoman. Nick refuse until he discovers who kidnapped her, Sasha. He travels to Russia and meets with Burton (Ben Cross) who will supply him with weapon's and assembles a team of mercs to help Nick get back Julia, while at the same time finishing what he did 7 years previously, killing Sasha. The plot is simple yet writer Bryan Hill allows more focus on characters, clearly in the style of directors like Michael Mann. There are great character moments here, and some superbly played out scenes in amongst the action scenes focusing on character. it's the sort of quiet moments never seen in DTV action films, including a great dinner sequence where Nick and his men relax and unwind, a kind of calm before the storm. The dialogue is also engaging.

The film looks fantastic. The washed out colours, make this reminiscent of brutal 70's revenge flicks like Death Wish and Get Carter. Cinematographer Ross Clarkson has made sure this looks far beyond it's small budget. Similarly Dolph's visual style has developed even more since his exciting debut. He shoots the film with conviction, stylistically picking little apples from different orchards, not simply, as many directors do, picking from merely John Woo's orchard (that guy has no apples left on his trees I can tell you), but Dolph gives reference to a varied group, from Woo, to Mann, to Peter Yates and to modern indie directors like the Bourne films' Doug Liman and Peter Greengrass.

The action is excellent, a step up from the Defender. Again it's plentiful, yet the action is different in style. This time as opposed to a siege movie, this is an ass battering revenge flick so the action consists of bloody and violent shootouts, where like so rarely in his previous movies, every bullet has it's own bullet hole. Windows shatter, splinters fly, chest cavities burst open and things blow up. The fights scenes are brilliantly paced and use martial arts realistically. it's all done in one or two moves. No flashy Van Damme kicks, it's arm breaks, shoulder tosses and neck breaks. Also the film has some vehicular chases that impress too.

The music from Elia Cmirel is atmospheric, and delightfully reminiscent of his work in Ronin, simple, low key and effective. He doesn't go through the motions here, he creates a score, as if proud to be scoring this movie. This is possibly Dolph's best score, particularly in the context of it being a genuinely good little film. In terms of the sound mix, this, like Defender, is pure class. The use of sound is excellent, while the general editing of the film is slick, well paced and never goes overboard.

The cast are good. Dolph Lundgren gives probably his best performance. He doesn't over-stretch himself as many action stars have been prone too, yet he raises his level of performance and does well. Olivia Lee is a rising up and comer who does well as Julia. The remainder of the cast are also excellent. Real class is also added by Ben Cross. He is given a good role as drunk Brit, Burton. Burton is in love with a hooker, who helps get them into Sasha's club to retrieve Julia. Cross is excellent in a role more significant than I thought it would be. He is comical and shows conviction in the dramatic scenes and his presence is a real bonus to an already quality piece.

This film really does show the future to be bright for Lundgren, should he carry on directing his own movies. His cash cow power allows him to get his way on how he wants to film his action, meaning every last penny is spent, and time is taken for more elaborate set-ups. Lundgren shows himself worthy of another shot at the big time in a film Van Damme and Seagal could only dream of having on their CV's. In a generally great year for films, Dolph has produced that rare thing, a decent, well made, DTV movie. Not only that but he has done it twice! This is Lundgren's best by some way! ****

Dolph has really done it. The Mechanik is an action movie at it best. It has everything an action flick needs. A good guy, a bad guy, shooting, close combat, blood and broken bones and a huge death count at the (happy) end. The story is very simple. Nikolai Cherenko (Lundgren) is a former spetznas (Russian special forces) who, after his family was killed by a mafia boss, went to the US to work as a mechanic. After 7 years a lady comes to him and wants to hire him to save here daughter which was kidnapped by the same gangster. Nick finally takes the job but of course it is not about the money but all about vengeance. He gets a backup team and… from here on the story and the end is quite predictable. But it is not the story that makes this movie a must see. It is the details, and mostly it is what the movie leaves out. You won't find long dialogs about morale and ethics, heroism in terms of "leave me behind I'm just slowing you down!" and then the obligatory "never I'd rather die!". There are also no long man on man fights. What do you do if a black belt attacks you? Well if it would bee any other movie, such a situation would develop into a 1 hour bare hands fight. But not here. Take your gun and shoot him. It is that simple. A very similar situation, the bad guy falls to the ground and loses his gun. Wait till he gets up? Continue the fight without weapons? Bah! You are standing, he is on the ground, you've got a gun, he hasn't. Shoot him! Not very honorable, but very fast and effective. After all he is there to get the girl not to win a karate tournament. At the end, The Mechanik is not your typical action flick. The hero is not as heroic as you would perhaps like to have him. He is not doing all this because it is the right thing, but because he wants to see blood. The Mechanik is a great action movie, just like in the good old times when action didn't try to bee anything else, but simply action. It is simple, violent, direct and pure as the best Russian vodka! A must see!

Dolph Lundgren stars as Nikolai a Russian special forces officer who takes vengeance on the (russian) mobsters who killed his family, assuming that the killer is dead, he works as a mechanic however when he is asked to help a European heiress, Nikolai needs little convincing when he finds out that the man who took her is the same man who killed his family in this fairly engaging straight to DVD release.

Dolph Lundgren has always been one of the more engaging action stars in the market and he certainly crafts excellent action scenes (Especially the climax) but where as The Defender had more twists and satisfying punch,this one is let down by a screenplay that is too mediocre to really work.

Still this is above average for the genre and despite a few silly moments, The Russian Specialist works fairly well. Also fans of Lundgren who wanted a sequel to Red Scorpion, here you go.

Matt Bronson 2.5/5

I just viewed "The Mechanik/Russian Specialist". It was a better movie than I expected. The basic plot has been done multiple times and I rate it favorably with other comparable movies. The action was good though in some instances a bit over the top. I would have liked to have seen more character development from the character Nick and the young kidnapped lady. Nick's character was too one dimensional. There were missed opportunities to develop these characters, (especially when they stayed overnight with the family in the countryside. (by the way, Bulgaria seems like it is a beautiful country). I think that the actors that portrayed that family did a superb job. The only real problem I had was during the Early scenes in the movie. The lighting was poor. I could barely see the actors. Overall, I was pleased with this movie.